


Betrayed, The

by westwingfanfictioncentral_archivist



Category: The West Wing
Genre: Episode Tag, Episode: s02e20 The Fall's Gonna Kill You
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2001-05-12
Updated: 2001-05-12
Packaged: 2019-05-15 11:11:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,748
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14789423
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/westwingfanfictioncentral_archivist/pseuds/westwingfanfictioncentral_archivist
Summary: CJ copes with the news of the President's MS.





	Betrayed, The

**Author's Note:**

> A copy of this work was once archived at National Library, a part of the [ West Wing Fanfiction Central](https://fanlore.org/wiki/West_Wing_Fanfiction_Central), a West Wing fanfiction archive. More information about the Open Doors approved archive move can be found in the [announcement post](http://archiveofourown.org/admin_posts/8325).

 

The Betrayed-1  
Rating: PG- A few drinks, and a bit of language.  
Plot: How C.J. copes after being told of the President's MS (takes off directly  
after The Fall's Gonna Kill You)  
Spoilers: Only up to The Fall's Gonna Kill You- May2nd  
Feedback: Please, please, please, with a cherry on top!   
Disclaimers: All characters belonmg to Aaron Sorkin..yadda, yadda, yadda, just  
letta girl have some fun, we only get our  
dose once a week.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

CJ had made her way up to her apartment, as to her surprise, and she began  
immediately to set up her laptop. She knew  
exactly what she was writing up. A few minutes later, a hastily written letter  
had been written, quickly skimmed and proofread  
, and she began to get up from her sofa to the kitchen. She had told herself she  
would write the letter, before drinking. 

"Damn all of them," she said, as she took out the shot glass from her upper  
cabinet and began to look over her single bottle  
of liquor. One that Josh had given her for christmas, a red wine from France.  
She had been told it was excellent, and she had  
left the gift there, in case of special occassion. It sat there, collecting a  
bit of dust, and she rubbed the label silently. 

"1985." 

She softly chuckled as she lowered it from its position to the counter as she  
began to search for the bottle opener  
and cursed as she heard her doorbell ring. 

"God help the person on the other side," she mumbled. 

She looked through the peep hole to see Josh standing outside her door with what  
seemed as something hidden behind his  
back. 

"I know you're in there, CJ." 

She shook her head once again at how much this man knew her, and opened the  
door. 

"Come on in, join the fiesta." 

Josh nodded as he closed the door behind him and noticed the bottle of unopened  
wine sitting on her counter. 

"Ran out of the others, didn't you?" 

"Yes, yes I did. I decided, that this was an excellent occassion to use your  
bottle." 

Josh hung his jacket up on the coat hanger and showed the gift he had brought. 

"I knew you used the other ones, so, I got you another one." 

CJ turned from the window as she saw him holding a bottle of Jack Daniel's. 

"You, you really knew exactly what I was going to do, didn't you?" 

"I did the same thing last night." 

"If you did, you would've been totally hung over today," she pointed out. 

"I did have a glass, however, I was not going to go as far as you are about too.  
Frankly, because, it was a Thursday  
night, and I knew I had to face Leo and you the next day," he said, giving out a  
sigh as he remembered last night. 

"Yeah....well, shall we?" CJ pointed to her counter as Josh walked over silently  
nodding. 

She pulled out another shot glass as she began to open the Daniel's. 

"Well, here's to the betrayed." 

CJ gave a glass to Josh and another to herself as she toasted. 

"Yeah," he said gulping it down.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
THE NEXT MORNING 

CJ awoke on her sofa as she squinted at the glass sitting on the wodden table in  
front of her, with the  
small ounce of liquor still present on the bottom. She felt her head throb, as  
it usually did during days like these,  
and she presided to slowly sit up from her position. 

"Joshua," she said, looking on the floor around her for her best friend. 

She squinted once more until she found her glasses on her kitchen tabletop and  
cleaned them as she placed them atop her  
bridged nose. She cleaned up his shot glass, half empty, as she stumbled to the  
sink. 

"Joshua," she said again, this time in a bit more agitated tone of voice. 

She let it go as she began to think that he had let himself out at night, or  
even had left early this morning to see her spread  
out on the couch. She made her way to the bathroom, splashed water on her face,  
and opened the shower curtain. 

"Jesus Christ!" 

CJ peered over to see him sleeping in the bathtub, his hair moshed to one side,  
and began to then only think about how much  
neck strain he would have in the following days. 

"CJ?!" 

He sat up quickly and felt all of last night ride up with him. 

"I'm going to be sick," he said, holding his stomach as a surprised CJ helped  
him up from the tub to his knees in front of the  
toilet. 

CJ patted his back as he coughed and heaved into the bathroom toilet. She rubbed  
his disorganized hair into its usual form  
and helped him stand. 

"That wouldn't have just happened if you hadn't scared the jewish out of me." 

"Or if you had slept like most people do, on a sofa or even my bed." 

"Well, I..I-" 

"Yeah, yeah. Hey, I need to take a shower, so you go to the kitchen slowly and  
help yourself to ginger ale or water.  
Do not drink or eat anything else, ok?" 

"Yes, mother." 

"Josh," CJ said, giving him a well-known look. 

"Sorry. I'll be going now," he walked slowly out of the bathroom as she watched  
him stumble into the living room. 

Josh peered over his shoulder one last time as he saw her still making sure he  
didn't fall, and shook his head at her. 

"I'll be fine," he said to her. 

He took one final look over and saw her gone, and tripped over a cord in her  
living room. 

"CJ, CJ," he said, looking at her laptop still hooked up from last night. 

"I'll just turn this off for you." 

He bent down slowly as he had been told and moved the mouse to take off the  
screen saver. He was about to hit the file  
and exit on her microsoft word, but noticed the opening. 

"Dear President Bartlet..." 

Josh skimmed over it and sat there, shocked at what she had written. She had  
told him that she was going to get some sleep  
. She had gone home, and written a letter of resignation. 

"CJ!" 

Josh stood up as he heard her approach from the bathroom and began immediately  
to stare at her. 

"What? What, Josh?" 

"I read it, what did you think, I wouldn't see it?" 

"Read what-" 

"Your resignation letter, CJ. The one that pisses off all the hard work, the  
lessons, that pisses all over *us* CJ!" 

"Josh, sit down," CJ said, extending her hand. 

"No, no. I will say what I have to say. You cannot let this go CJ. This will be  
the most important time of your life.  
You will be at testimonies, you will be hounded by the press, but, best of all,  
you will serve at the pleasure of the President.  
And that is what all of this has been about. It's been about him. About making  
our country a better place. Rising the standard  
of educations, giving middle income families an easier time when they fill out  
their taxes, and best of all, stoppping the people  
whose sole purpose of living in the land of the free is to ruin it. The drug  
trafficers, the criminals, the hate groups, Cj. The same  
ones who came out in May and tried to kill Charlie, and almost killed me. You  
can't just leave because something bad  
happens-" 

"Josh, I am a god damned accomplice! I have lied about the president's health on  
national television, I saw the first lady give  
him an injection of some sort during the campaign, and I kept my mouth shut. I  
am the middle of this cyclone. I was the one  
betrayed, we were the ones betrayed, we are the ones who are left to deal with  
this!" 

"Do you honestly thinkyou can sit there and tell me, that you think that this is  
the President's fault?" 

"Yes. Yes, I can. And do you know why? Because he's the one who forgot to tell  
us this little bit of detail, which, as miniscule  
as it may seem, may bring this administration down. This administration, who,  
like you said, worked their ass off to make this  
a better place for everyone. This administration which has caused all of our  
private lives to take a 180 degree turn! I have not  
seen my mother and father in over a year. I have talked to them 2 weeks ago, and  
that was to kill time during the filibuster. So,  
as little as this may seem to you, this is a big thing, and this is a big thing  
that I don't want to help cover up." 

"CJ, these years have made your parents prouder than ever to be your parents.  
they see you daily on the television, and watch  
you bounce those questions off you like super woman. They watch you, and say,  
'God, Claudia Jean has truly become what  
we have known all along what she could be- the very best. If you leave now,  
you'll be the first one off, the one who will  
open the gates. You don't want to watch all of this like a third person. I know  
it. You always love being in the middle of  
everything. You need to know what happened where, who said what, and when the  
President will need you. And he needs  
you now, CJ. Now, more than anyother time in your entire life. You will be the  
one who will save this boat from tipping over." 

CJ's eyes clouded up as Josh held her hand, and he finished that last phrase. 

"You, you know? I actuallly might not be needing that after all," she said,  
drying her eyes and deleting the file. 

"Good. Cause I wouldn't know what to do without you." 

Josh smiled as he gave her a hug. 

"Thanks. Thank you for helping me see what I forgot, Josh. For what I was scared  
of." 

"Anytime, CJ. You know I just love you watching be hurl all over your bathroom." 

CJ chuckled softly as she stoodup to walk to the kitchen. 

"So mi amor, what do you want for breakfast?" 

"Breakfast? You better make it to go, cause we have work in an hour." 

CJ groaned as she noticed her watch telling her it was already 10 A.M. 

"Great."  
~~~~~~~~~~~~`  
Fin* 

  


End file.
